Top advertised jobs of the year and what they earn

Business Reporter·NZ Herald·

19 Dec, 2016 07:51 PM3 mins to read

ICT jobs were hot in demand in 2016. Photo / 123RF

Information and Communications Technology was New Zealand's highest advertised industry of the year, according to employment website Seek.

The average advertised salary for ICT industry was $91,609.

Social workers, police & corrections officers and early childhood teachers, followed closely after as the highest advertised jobs of 2016.

Despite New Zealand's need to stay digitally connected and develop new technology, Seek New Zealand general manager Janet Faulding said there was still a strong demand for frontline service roles.

Faulding said the growing population had helped fuel growth across top jobs.

"We don't expect demand on Seek to slow any time soon... as our population grows so will our need for professionals in frontline services and early childhood education," she said.

Social workers

Demand for social workers across the country increased more than 74 per cent on the previous year.

The average advertised salary in this profession was $51,961.

Faulding said it was no surprise social workers was a most sought after job.

"With our increased population due to natural birth rates and migration, this puts increased pressure on social services," she said.

Police and correction officers

Job ads for police and correction roles increased more than 163 per cent year on year, with an average advertised salary of $64,872.

"Police & corrections officers are vital roles within our community, which has been reflected through strong job ad growth and demand," Faulding said.

"It will be interesting to watch if the growth we've seen in this industry is enough to support our communities for the next 12 months, or if they'll be looking to hire more people."

Early childhood teachers

Advertised jobs for early childhood teachers increased nationwide by more than 76 per cent, with an average salary of $58,711.

"Early childhood teachers are essential for educating our youth during their formative years. We predict there will be on-going strong job ad growth on SEEK for these professionals as our nation continues to grow and we see more guardians returning to work and requiring care for their children during working hours."

New Zealand job market

In the year to November there were 9.3 per cent more jobs advertised on the previous year.

Job ads in Auckland - New Zealand's largest labour market - had been steady, with an increase of 11 per cent, Faulding said.

"Driving this ad uplift are Auckland's top advertising industries, which are information & communications technology (up 6 per cent), manufacturing, transport & logistics (up 21 per cent) and accounting (up 8 per cent)," she said.

"In Wellington, advertising on Seek was up 3.1 per cent this November, when compared to the same period last year. ICT remained our capital's top advertising industry on Seek this November."

Canterbury remained the country's weakest major labour market, with advertising down 5.7 per cent in November.